On July 5, 2019, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) submitted an opinion to the European Commission during a public consultation for a roadmap to review the coherence of existing EU measures addressing endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) (FPF reported). An article published by regulatory news provider Chemical Watch summarizing the opinion highlights the EESC’s call for “transparency for citizens and stakeholders” when regulating EDCs. It also recommends a budget for independent and public research to develop “agreed scientific criteria and methods to address, support and stimulate European industrial research and innovation activity and production.” This would include further funding in addition to the currently set budget for the Horizon 2020 research program that aims to support early identification of EDCs, safe alternatives, and environmental remediation.

The EESC’s opinion specifically requests that “the criteria for identifying a substance as an [EDC] must be consistent and coherent across all regulatory fields in the EU” and calls for “measures and provisions [to be] in line with the precautionary principle.” The consultation period on the roadmap closed on July 10, 2019, and all feedback received from stakeholders during the consultation is available for public review on the roadmap’s website.

Reference

EESC (July 5, 2019). “Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions — Towards a comprehensive EU framework on endocrine disruptors.” (pdf)

Read More

Caterina Tani (July 16, 2019). “EU body urges Commission to fund research to tackle EDCs.” Chemical Watch

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